


Habits Die Hard

by imbeccacile



Category: Phineas and Ferb
Genre: Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-27
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2018-12-07 11:46:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11622858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imbeccacile/pseuds/imbeccacile
Summary: Ferb hasn't been getting enough sleep. Phineas and Perry want to try and help him break that bad habit.





	Habits Die Hard

**Author's Note:**

> So in the beginning of Across the Second Dimension, Ferb is shown to be sleeping with a book open on his chest. Staying up until he physically can't anymore is probably a habit that he has, so this is what I came up with, enjoy.

Perry was normally very silent when he switched from one of his boys' beds to the other. But when the platypus woke due to his tiny wrist alarm, he opened his eyes to find a warm glow of light reflecting on the wall. 

He had started the night off with Phineas, and he lifted his head slightly to see the young boy lying peacefully on his side, facing the wall. He snored quietly, and Perry smiled a little. It was nice to see the boy relax a bit. When he was awake, his mind worked a mile a minute. But that didn't explain the light, and it was time for him to move to Ferb's bed. He stood up on all fours, shaking himself off, and turned to hop off the bed, but found himself hesitating in silent surprise.

Ferb was still awake. He was slumped in bed, eyes half-open, a book propped open on his chest. He hadn't even noticed Perry yet; it seemed like he was going to fall asleep any second. And yet, he turned a page, keeping his thumb in the crook of the spine. 

The platypus sighed and glanced back at Phineas. This was the third time this week Perry had seen something like this happen. The last two times, he had gotten up to go to either one of the boys' beds and Ferb had fallen asleep with his book still open across his chest. He had been able to then shut off the light without the two noticing, but he still couldn't help but worry for Ferb. He was a little boy; he shouldn't be awake this late at night, to be getting up in the morning so early. Though the last thing he wanted to do was wake Phineas too, maybe he could help. Ferb usually listened to him.

When Perry hopped off of the bed, he made an effort to rustle the blanket with his foot a little. The quiet pitter-patter of feet was just slightly louder than usual, and when he jumped up next to Ferb, he curled up next to his pillow, feeling a hand gently lay on his back. He hoped he had succeeded in waking Phineas up; There was only so much a 'mindless' animal could do for its owner that wasn't getting enough sleep. He kept one eye open, trained on the other boy's bed. It worked.

***  
Phineas didn't often wake up in the middle of the night like this. As he opened his eyes slowly, he realized it must have been Perry's doing. Though, the boy knew that he probably didn't mean it, and yawned quietly. He almost shut his eyes again, but he realized their room was...lighter than it usually was. Rubbing his eyes, Phineas sat up and blinked blearily over at Ferb, surprised to see that he was still awake. 

"Ferb?" he asked, voice hoarse with sleep. The boy in question glanced up, dark bags under his eyes. "What...Why are you-" he was cut off by a yawn, "why are you still awake?" Ferb simply shrugged. Perry huffed in his sleep. 

Phineas drew back his blankets and got out of bed, rubbing one of his eyes with the heel of his hand. He sat on the edge of his brother's bed, looking at him curiously. "You haven't gone to sleep at all yet?" he questioned slowly, glancing over at the glowing alarm clock near his bed. "Ferb, it's...it's almost two am!

The other boy simply shrugged. He had done it before. He just couldn't get enough of books, especially when he got to suspenseful parts. And it wasn't like he had much time to read them, considering every day was spent outside with Phineas and their friends. He just wanted to always be reading, and know what happens at the end of his books.

Meanwhile, Phineas couldn't even imagine it. By nine o'clock on most days, he could barely keep his eyes open. And now here his brother was, up until two? It was crazy. But now that he thought about it...Ferb had been a little sluggish lately. Phineas had just assumed that he hadn't slept very well; Ferb often thought a lot, due to being silent most of the day, which meant his brain activity kept him awake sometimes. But now...now he was staying awake on purpose? "You're gonna hurt yourself tomorrow if you don't get enough sleep," he reasoned, looking his brother in the eye. God, he looked awful right now...

"I'm alright, Phineas," he replied softly, running his hand over Perry's back. 

"Bro, you're a terrible liar," he laughed a little, shaking his head. "Ferb, come on. The book will be right here in the morning, where you left it, okay? I know you don't wanna miss out on whatever we're gonna do tomorrow, but if this keeps happening you'll sleep through our alarm." Sighing, Phineas reached over and grabbed the top of the book gently, tugging it out of Ferb's weak grasp. He looked around for a moment and reached over, plucking a tissue from the box on the table near their beds, and folded it to fit neatly on Ferb's page. "Look, see? Bookmarked and everything."

Ferb stared at Phineas, unable to really protest because of how utterly exhausted he felt. He smiled a little at the last comment, however. "At least you didn't fold the page in." Phineas laughed again, and got to his feet, stepping back a little so Ferb could lie down properly. He reached over and shut out the light, then sat back onto the edge of his bed.

"Good night, bro," he whispered quietly, staring at the now silhouetted form of his brother. But he got no answer. Ferb was already asleep, one hand still gently laying on Perry's back, the other relaxed on top of his chest. Phineas smiled and got up, pulling the blankets over Ferb, then lay back down in his own bed, falling asleep rather quickly himself.

And Perry? He had been awake the whole time, but now that both of them were asleep, he finally relaxed, his last thought being how proud he was of his boys. It would take some time, but perhaps they could work through this together.


End file.
